This weekend at Texas Wesleyan, the New York Yankees of college table tennis, will play host to the NCTTA South Regional Championships. Twelve of the best schools in the South (Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida and Georgia) will descend upon the Texas Wesleyan University Fort Worth campus to battle for the chance at school glory. It will be live streamed too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVhx7C6c-zM

School glory isn’t the only outcome sought by these men and women paddlers; National Championship qualification is on the line with the Top three men’s/coed teams qualify; Top 2 women teams along with the top 8 men singles and top 4 women’s singles. The TMS 2017 National Collegiate Table Tennis Championships is NCTTA’s premier event and is the Super Bowl and World Cup of Collegiate Table Tennis rolled into one! The NCTTA South Regionals is paramount to continuing in the College Table Tennis post season.

The South Region features Texas Wesleyan winner of the championships 12 out of the last 13 years. They have a total of 60 championships since 2002. IN the past years, however schools have caught up and one such school is a small liberal studies school in Clinton, Mississippi, called Mississippi College. Mississippi College is the only school to date to have ever beaten the College Table Tennis Giants. Coach and former Mississippi College player, Cheng Li states, “We will try our best.” Mississippi College is a 5,130 student school in Clinton, Mississippi and is America’s 2nd oldest Baptist College, 191 years old!

In 2015, Mississippi College was at their best beating Texas Wesleyan setting up an internal regional rivalry for years to come and this year is no different. Look for Texas Wesleyan and Mississippi College to always be favorites, but there are a couple of dark horses looking to heat things up: University of Houston from the South Texas division for one and the University of Florida from the Northern Florida division could create a stir!

Men’s singles and women’s singles are going to feature some of the best College Table Tennis players. Texas Wesleyan alone features twelve singles players in the competition! Last year’s South Regional Champion and National Championship singles winner Yi Chi Zhang (Men’s Singles) is back looking to defend. Click here to see who is looking to make Zhang’s run for the Regional Title a bit more difficult!

NCTTA South Regional kicks off at 2:00pm Central Time on Saturday and Sunday at 9:00am Central Time.

Pictured here is Team Captain and leader from UT Austin, Felix Chan who will be in action at Texas Wesleyan with his UT Austin team!

The College Table Tennis regular season starts October 1st and ends February 12th but the “2nd season” as some like to call it will soon start as early as February 25th and as late as March 5th! This is the NCTTA College Table Tennis post season that culminates Regional Championships followed by the epic National Championships.

Regional Championships feature the best of Division Men’s and Women’s singles and the best of Coed and Women’s teams. The fierce battle begins with who gets to go (direct division winners and wildcards) and then of course on the table play.

Regional Championships are a keystone to getting to the National Championships. Remember these Regionals will be live streamed and some will even have commentary!

Call it a case of “Back to the Future.’’ North America’s finest collegiate table tennis players will return to Round Rock, Texas for the 2018 championship games.

NCTTA leaders selected the Round Rock Texas Sports Center over several other competitive bidders around the nation to host next year’s huge tournament.

It was really hard to turn down Round Rock that bills itself as the Sports Capital of Texas, NCTTA leaders say. The city is home base for the Round Rock Express, the AAA affiliate of MLB’s Texas Rangers. Round Rock Donuts (are they yellow or orange?) has been an institution for food lovers in the city since 1926.

But more importantly, leaders of the vibrant city near Austin went the extra mile to welcome the TMS national collegiate table tennis championships in 2016.

Opened in January 2014, the amazing $14.9 million sports facility does a terrific job hosting basketball, volleyball, wresting, fencing, table tennis and much more.

It features 82,800 square feet of space indoors, boasts seating for 1,400 spectators and a total capacity for more than 3,000 guests. The venue has 500 parking spaces, attractive locker rooms, space for concessions stands, nice lighting and other amenities too many to mention.

NCTTA President Willy Leparulo raves about how the Lone Star State city rolled out the red carpet for the 2016 tournament. The three-day event drew about 300 collegiate players from schools across the USA and Canada. Coaches, fans and volunteers showed up, too.

“We are excited to be going back to Texas,’’ Leparulo said. “The NCTTA in its short history has hosted championships in Texas four other years. So, it’s great to come back to a familiar place.’’

The tournament will be a relatively short drive for perennial collegiate table tennis national champion Texas Wesleyan University of Fort Worth.

The Round Rock bid was considered along with a half-dozen others from states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and California.

“We are so blessed as an organization to have so many wonderful cities interested in college table tennis,’’ Leparulo added.

NCTTA leaders considered a long list of factors, including the availability of hotels, transportation, the quality of the venue, costs, banquet facilities, flooring, lighting, and volunteer staffing.

Home to more than 109,000 Texans, Round Rock is known as a haven for shoppers with its Round Rock Premium Outlets. Its Rock’ N River Water Park is first-class. The music scene in nearby Austin is alive and well for visitors.

Nancy Yawn, director of Round Rock’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, is delighted to receive the news from the NCTTA’s leadership team.

“We look forward to having all the event participants, spectators and volunteers come and play, support and work the tournament here in the heart of Texas,’’ Yawn said. “We hope you enjoy everything about your trip to Round Rock in March 2018.’’

The Texas city is loaded with plenty of restaurants to cater to just about everybody’s taste buds.
The impressive sports facility has room for six high school basketball courts, 12 volleyball courts, and obviously plenty of room for the college table tennis tournament. It’s worth it to visit the popular venue at 2400 Chisholm Trail. The site remains a short walk to hotels for players, coaches and volunteers.

In the weeks ahead, college table tennis players will try to punch their tickets to the 2017 NCTTA championships April 7-9. The site at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is the same place the tournament was held in 2015.

In recent years, the national championships were booked in Rockford, Illinois in 2013 and Monroeville near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2014.

NCTTA is looking for the best of the best in everything, including its commentators. Last year the organization held its first search for commentators and it worked out well.

Joe Wells, Veteran commentator at the NCTTA Champs, says “We got a lot of interest and were able to invite a number of people to our championships that became key parts to the event’s success.” This contest is a chance to attend the NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships as a Commentator for the live stream! (one must be able to work all days)

NCTTA has used in the past, Han Xiao (former UMD player and USATT board member), Joe Wells (Vice President of NCTTA), and Adam Bobrow (Current ITTF Commentator), but the Championship committee wants the NCTTA membership and alumni and fans to have a chance at being a part of our event.

Winner or winners have a shot to come out to the 2017 NCTTA Championships in Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Looking to make a bulk purchase order for some balls? Why not get some Double Fish 3* balls! Double Fish is offering NCTTA school members a discounted price of $92 ($102 for Canadians due to shipping charges) for 102 balls. These premium 3* poly balls will be identical to the ones used in our NCTTA 2016-17 season, get a head start with some multi-ball training today! To order, please click here.

USATT Membership Discounts For NCTTA Graduates

NCTTA has recently teamed with USA Table Tennis to create a special opportunity where recent NCTTA grads can take advantage of a 1-year USATT membership for 40 percent off of the regular price. Yes, you read that right 40% off. USATT membership is the best way to stay involved with table tennis after graduation. So take advantage of this great deal! Read all about it at: nctta.org/alumni. NCTTA takes care of its alumni hoping that they then will return the favor to their collegiate clubs by donating their time or money or both to keep programs and teams alive.

More than 250 of the best collegiate table tennis players in North America will return to Eau Claire, Wisconsin for the 2017 national championships.

In early June, leaders of the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association selected Eau Claire to host the three-day tournament. The site will again be the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.

Eau Claire competed for the bid against a proposal offered to bring the games to Biloxi, Mississippi along the Gulf Coast.

“We were happy with the way that Eau Claire leaders embraced us at the 2015 TMS College Table Tennis Championships,’’ NCTTA President Willy Leparulo. “We look forward to being back in Wisconsin in the Spring of 2017.’’

Located about 90 minutes from Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Wisconsin university partnered with the Wisconsin-Eau Claire table tennis club to help bring volunteers to the event, Leparulo noted. “Volunteers are critical to our success at regional and national tournaments each year. We will look to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire team and neighboring schools like University of Minnesota for such help."

Ben Morgan, sports sales manager for Visit Eau Claire, is delighted to see his hometown selected. The decision brings another major sporting event to the northern Wisconsin city, and with it comes a nice economic boost, he noted. The table tennis tournament, Morgan said, pumps in an estimated $80,000 in visitor spending.

“We had great feedback from several local businesses and hotels during the 2015 championships, and we expect the same – if not more – positive feedback in 2017,’’ Morgan added.

The event organizers in Wisconsin tracked over 300 hotel rooms used by participants at the games in April 2015. That includes college table tennis players, coaches, fans, family members, and scores of volunteers. “This is a great boost for the hotels during the non-peak season,’’ Morgan said.

Visit Eau Claire officials worked well once again with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to craft an outstanding proposal to submit to the NCTTA, Morgan noted.

The NCTTA’s biggest tournament of the year has moved around the country in recent years. The 2016 national championships were held in Round Rock, Texas near Austin in late March. The 2014 championships landed in Monroeville, Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. In 2013, the tournament was held in Rockford, Illinois. Plano, Texas hosted the games in April 2012.

The 2017 tournament in Wisconsin is expected to be in April. More details are expected to be announced on the NCTTA website (nctta.org) at a later date.